Is if to remove any lingering doubts about the Netanyahu Government's true priorities being territorial expansion and a "Greater Israel", on the heels of its unilateral confiscation of 1,000 acres of Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank in retribution for murders of three Israeli youths, Bibi's government has just announced the expansion of one of its many settlements that are seen as illegal by a consensus of other countries under International Law.
Israel Plans 283 More Homes in West Bank Elkana Settlement
The Israel Land Authority published a tender for constructing 283 housing units in the West Bank settlement of Elkana.
The announcement Thursday, advancing an expansion the Israeli government first approved in 2012, comes after international criticism, including from the United States, over Israel’s recent appropriation of approximately 1,000 acres in the West Bank.
The publication of tenders, in which contractors are invited to bid on the project, constitutes the final bureaucratic stage of the process for construction. Construction is not expected to begin before December.
The United States and European Union consider Israeli construction in the West Bank an impediment to reaching a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. On Thursday, Haaretz quoted an unnamed U.S. official as saying that the United States was examining “additional ways to respond to the appropriation” of West Bank land.
As Bibi well knows this is election season so I wouldn't expect more than a wrist slapping exercise if anything at all. Netanyahu is secure in his knowledge that the US Department of State will shield Israel from facing any more serious repercussions from its expansionist policies.
From the Likud Party's current Platform:
3. Israel will annex a designated part of Judea and Samaria.
Apparently that "designated part" is elastic and keeps expanding.
7. Simplify and increase land allocation.
Translation: Simplify and increase land thefts from Palestinians.
Also see: Filling in the ugly details about Netanyahu's latest audacious land seizure
As Netanyahu thumbs his nose at the world its time to get serious about BDS.